Study Strong Link between Autism child Gender non conformity

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ASPartOfMe
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07 Mar 2016, 12:43 am

Study: Autistic kids more likely to be gender non-conforming: Kids on autism spectrum are 7 times more likely to wish to be the opposite sex, researchers say

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Yigeren
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07 Mar 2016, 4:45 am

I wonder if this explains why I always felt much more masculine than the other girls growing up. My interests are also not necessarily traditional "female" interests, and I don't feel as if I am very feminine in the manner in which I think.

I'm not transgender, though. If anything, I'm more in the middle.



btbnnyr
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07 Mar 2016, 12:53 pm

I think autistic kids have trouble fitting in with their own gender peers, so they are more likely to answer they wish to be the opposite sex for social reasons.
I don't think it is because they are actually transgender.
I might answer yes sometimes to such question because I find it easier to get along with males and it might be even easier to get along with them if I am also male, but I am not transgender in any way.
But then again it might be harder to get along with males if I am autistic male, and I might then wish to be female.
Maybe it is only easier since I am autistic female.
I think the transgender/autism thing is overblown.


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Yigeren
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07 Mar 2016, 2:17 pm

I never did wish to be the opposite gender, but I knew that I did not fit in with most of the girls. But, I also didn't fit in with most of the boys. They mostly wanted to play team sports, watch fake wrestling, and play with action figures and make them fight. I had no interest in those sorts of things at all.



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09 Mar 2016, 2:47 am

Yigeren wrote:
I'm not transgender, though. If anything, I'm more in the middle.


Just to note, the metric used, CBCL sex item 110 "I wish I was the opposite sex" as reported by parents describing their children's behavior, is *not* a good indicator of a transgender child. There's a study from a few years ago often cited by anti-trans people that they claim shows 70% of all transgender children "outgrow it". However, it has been resoundingly criticized for it's methodology because the researchers did not differentiate in the initial group children who "wanted to be the opposite sex" - which to a child can mean the same as getting to play with the others toys or social role - from "I am a [opposite sex]" - the actual proclamation of transgender children. While it may seem a subtle difference, the two sets of children are actually very different and fairly distinct when you've met enough of them & parents start comparing notes.

Note that doesn't dispute the original study as gender non-conformity in children ranges from not caring or knowing the social expectations for gendered play to preferring it to liking to mix and match because pink is an awesome color but cars are so much cooler than dolls. :wink:


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Yigeren
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09 Mar 2016, 8:07 am

Edenthiel wrote:
Yigeren wrote:
I'm not transgender, though. If anything, I'm more in the middle.


Just to note, the metric used, CBCL sex item 110 "I wish I was the opposite sex" as reported by parents describing their children's behavior, is *not* a good indicator of a transgender child. There's a study from a few years ago often cited by anti-trans people that they claim shows 70% of all transgender children "outgrow it". However, it has been resoundingly criticized for it's methodology because the researchers did not differentiate in the initial group children who "wanted to be the opposite sex" - which to a child can mean the same as getting to play with the others toys or social role - from "I am a [opposite sex]" - the actual proclamation of transgender children. While it may seem a subtle difference, the two sets of children are actually very different and fairly distinct when you've met enough of them & parents start comparing notes.

Note that doesn't dispute the original study as gender non-conformity in children ranges from not caring or knowing the social expectations for gendered play to preferring it to liking to mix and match because pink is an awesome color but cars are so much cooler than dolls. :wink:


Yes, that makes sense. I never felt like I was a boy. I don't think I really felt like a "real" girl either. There was a period of time where I wondered if I actually were a boy on the inside, however. But I think now it was because I was different from other typical girls, and didn't conform to gender expectations. My personality is also not like the "typical" female personality, either.

I never either wished to be nor felt like I was a boy; I only worried about it perhaps being true.



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09 Mar 2016, 8:39 am

There is definitely a link between dysphoria and autism, that is not in question.

There's also a link between androgyny and autism, both in anatomical and neurological features, which probably accounts for it.



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01 Aug 2016, 9:25 am

I always felt more masculine despite being female bodied all my life. My family and their state of mine is so gendered to where I'm constantly told how mannish I am. I think if I had a female brain I would care a bit more.



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01 Aug 2016, 9:27 pm

It's like eating French food or wearing a motorcycle shirt. If I played-with or did girlish things, I would have called it that, without being disphoric or confused. I'm not sure whether that, or an autistic manner of thinking, are really diseases.